1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable, adjustable easel. More particularly, this invention relates to a portable, easel that adjusts to multiple configurations and provides maximum degree of stability and adjustability to hold an expanded range of canvas sizes and shapes.
2. Description of Prior Art
Portable Easels
Easels are commonly used by artists to hold canvasses, pads of paper and/or drawing boards while works of art are being made. Easels are also used to hold completed artworks, including framed artworks, and other planar objects for display. The majority of easels are designed to be portable and adjustable to some degree. However, portable easels are not always easily transportable by collapsing into a small format that is easy to carry and/or ship.
Artists and others who use easels for display purposes desire an easel that is lightweight and collapsible for transportation and that quickly and easily sets up indoors or out for holding canvasses, displays and other artworks. They also desire an easel that can hold planar artworks of different dimensions, shapes and materials. Artists also desire an easel that holds a planar artwork in a stable position so that it does not shift when the artist is applying paints or drawing on it. Artists also desire an easel that holds an artwork in a range of positions for easy access to apply a variety of paints or other art materials to its surface. Such an adjustable easel will allow the artist to sit or stand when working and to view the artwork from a convenient position during its creation.
Portable adjustable easels are manufactured from wood, metal or composites. Portable easels typically range in weight from 1.5 pounds to 15 pounds. Portable adjustable easels hold canvasses in a variety of manners. Most commonly, a tray protrudes from the tripod easel to support the canvas from the bottom, such that the top of the canvas simply reclines against the easel stand. Most have a clamping member for accepting the top edge of an artwork, preventing the artwork from falling off the tray.
Tripod Easels
A common type of portable easel is a folding tripod easel. Tripod easels can adjust the height of the artwork by adjustable legs. The upright tripod base tends to be unstable, and tips over easily when the wind catches a painting like a sail in outdoors use. This type of easel is most often used to hold or display smaller canvasses ranging from 4 inches by 6 inches to 18 inches by 24 inches. The easel legs often use pivotal tie-bars, or braces that fold down, to stabilize the legs. The tripod easel can also be equipped with chains to keep the legs from folding out too far to an unstable angle. The tripod easel typically uses the rear leg as the method of adjusting the angle of the canvas from leaning away from the artist toward the vertical, the preferred view for painting. The closer the canvas is to vertical, the more the rear leg must be drawn to the front legs, making the easel less stable and more likely to tip over. Therefore, an improved system for adjusting the angle of an artwork and stabilizing the base is needed for folding metal tripod easels.
An improved portable tripod easel has been described by Kappa US 2003/0193004 A1, Oct. 16, 2003. This easel uses a central spine brace to provide stability for the tripod. This easel also uses the central spine brace to hold the painting in a stable vertical position. A disadvantage for this easel is that the central spine brace interferes with an artist working close to the artwork from a seated position. A second disadvantage is the limited capability for the user to adjust the angle of the painting to a position that is horizontal with respect to the ground for watercolor painting. This easel is also limited in the size and shape of the object to be painted or displayed.
Paint Box Easels
Another common type of portable easel is the paint box easel, often termed a French easel. These easels typically consist of a wooden box with a hinged lid. Two front legs are pivotally affixed to the front of box. A back leg is pivotally attached to the back of the paint box. The hinged lid can be opened and stood up to hold a canvas, and devices can be used adjust the angle of the canvas. A disadvantage of all paint box type easels is that they are heavy, typically weighing over 12 pounds. This easel is not intended for seated artists to use while painting, since the rear leg of the easel interferes with the ability of the seated artist to sit close to the painting.
Graybill [U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,201] has developed an improved example of a collapsible paint box easel. This easel uses a mechanism to slide the hinged lid to the side, away from the box, so that the painter doesn't need to lean over the paint box. This easel also uses an improved system to adjust the height of the legs. This easel can also hold a much larger range of paintings, ranging from 4 inches by 6 inches to 18 inches by 24 inches. A limitation to this easel type is that it is designed solely for outdoor painting and is not useful in the studio or to display objects. Even this improved easel is bulky and it doesn't fold compactly for transport.
Easels for Seated Painters
Several easels have been described to address the need for the artist to paint from a seated position. The need for an adjustable easel that meets the need for a limited mobility artist, especially one who must work while seated in a wheelchair, has been considered in the development of artist's easels. Sterling et al. [U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,513] describe an easel for use by a seated artist. This easel holds an artwork between two adjustable boards. This artwork holder can rotate in a circular plane to move the artwork to different angles by use of a crank. This easel is not designed to be collapsible and is not intended for use on surfaces that are not level. Although a work held by the easel can be rotated to convenient positions, the artwork cannot be positioned to make a horizontal surface with regard to the ground for watercolor work. This easel is limited in the size of artwork that can be accommodated and is not intended for use by a standing artist.
Although prior art easels recognize and seek to address in part the deficiencies we have identified in portable artists' easels, these prior art easels fail to offer our comprehensive approach to completely rethink the portable easel for improved performance and versatility. In particular, a portable easel that easily adjusts the position of the artwork during painting is desirable. While there are many easels that allow some degree of adjusting the position of a canvas that they hold, none of them provides ability to position the painting in multiple directions that the artist requires. Also, the stability of a tripod easel is not satisfactory. The easel assembly of the present invention overcomes the multiple disadvantages of prior portable easel assemblies.
Operation of the Easel
The easel comprises two functional sections which are fastened together. The lower section comprises at least four legs, which can be fixed in a closed or open position. The legs are pivotally attached to the base. The legs can be attached to the base by tension pins or bolted into the base. In the preferred embodiment, the legs fit into slots, openings or angled cutouts that are machined out of the solid aluminum base and are rotationally fixed by of tension pins. The legs are moveable between inward folded position(s) and outward, extended, support position(s). A range of other fastener types will work to hold the legs to the base provided the fasteners allow lateral rotational movement of the legs. When the legs are in the closed position, they move closer together, and the legs are positioned at a 90-degree angle relative to the base. When the legs are fixed in the open position, they are rigidly braced at a suitable angle within the cutout. The legs and the base form an abutment and spread the compressive force of the base and the rest of the easel downward. This forms a stable central base for the easel. Stability is essential in any easel, especially in one designed to hold a range of sizes and weights of artworks. Stability is also required in a portable easel, which must be set up in a variety of environments. The legs are held in the extended position by the force of the heavy artwork on the base. This force is spread through the base and down through the legs, which forces the legs to remain in an abutted position within the angled cutouts. The legs may be braced open by insertion of a locking mechanism.
Stable Adjustable Easel Base
The base in this embodiment is shaped like a K, with the straight edge of the K in front and the V-shaped portion of the K in back. The K-base has a central block joined to four projecting rectangular leg supports. The sharp angles of these rectangles can be removed by machining for appearance and safety. The two front leg supports are located on either side of a central block. The two back leg supports project at mirror image angles from the central block. The two front legs of the easel are fastened to the front leg supports in such a way that they project laterally at an angle. This permits larger artworks to be held by the easel in a vertical or tilted forward position without interference with the legs. The easel's rear legs are fastened to the rear leg supports such that the rear legs project at mirror image angles in the V-shaped portion of the K-base. This provides more stable weight distribution.
The angles in the cutouts for all the legs can be identical, which is preferable for the broadest range of arm holder positions. The angles of the cutouts for the rear legs can be slightly more obtuse than those of the front legs, which tilts the base of the easel to a slight angle of 1 to 30 degrees. This offsets the force of heavier paintings on the front of the easel held by the arm holder in the vertical position. This design permits the artist to extend their legs under the base when they are painting in the seated position. The K shaped base also permits less material to be used in construction, reducing weight, cost and size. The rear base may be formed in modified versions of this configuration in a manner consistent with these design goals.
Each leg is adjustable in length. In one preferred embodiment, legs are telescoping outer and inner tubes that can be adjusted between extended and retracted lengths to move the easel to a variety of heights. These legs permit base height to be adjusted in convenient increments of 1-3 inches and are kept in position with by a variety of locking mechanisms, including but limited to split collar wing knob leg locks, locking spring button push pins, or adjustable annular clutch locks. It is understood that other leg designs that permit a stable, lightweight, strong, extendable leg configuration, such as folding shock cord legs, would also be suitable for use in this easel. A plurality of telescoping tubing shapes (circular, rectangular, hexagonal) may be used for these legs provided the cutouts in the K shaped base are modified to accommodate them. The largest diameter of the telescoping tubing in the legs is one which can be fastened within the cutouts in the K-base.
The feet can include a steel or carbide spike for outdoors use with a protective, non-slip plastic or rubber foot covers for use inside. The feet will be have screw-on plastic or rubber dome baskets similar to those used for hiking or skiing poles. These baskets prevent the legs from sinking too far into soft earth or sand. It is understood that other mechanisms exist to serve the function of staking the easel legs into the ground to provide stability for outdoor painting such as leg spikes and could be used in some embodiments of the easel. Leveling glides may also be substituted for spikes for indoor use.
Positioning Artworks
The upper section comprises an element (the H holder) designed to hold a plurality of adjustable arms. The H-holder comprises two curved members joined by a straight cross-secting member. It is understood that the H-holder could be a solid piece with this profile rather than three individual joined members. This element is attached to the K shaped base using adjustable radial clutches at the two curved members. These adjustable radial clutches are available commercially for use in lighting fixtures and musical equipment. The adjustable radial clutches contain a plurality of interlocking teeth held together by a screw tightened with a wing nut or circular knob. One such brand is the Posi-lok clutch. It is understood that other adjustable radial clutches will also serve this purpose.
The clutches are fastened to the K base and the H-holder using a plurality of fasteners, including but not limited to bolts, rivets, compression fasteners or welds. The adjustable radial clutches permit the H-holder to become an adjustable hinge mechanism that can be positioned and locked in place. This hinge can be manipulated to position artwork from a flat, table top position to a vertical position to a tilted forward position. The flat table position is preferred for watercolors and drawings. The vertical position is preferred for oil and acrylic paintings. The tilted forward position is preferred for charcoal or pastel work, since it prevents the particles from falling on the work in progress or for reducing glare from wet surfaces during painting. Unlike the prior art, the radial clutch locks permit this hinge mechanism to be rigidly locked rather than held in place by compression alone. This mechanism also is robust and can accommodate heavier artwork than other lightweight portable easels. This hinge mechanism permits the curved H-holder to fold down over the K-base and the legs for compact storage.
The straight portion of the H-holder receives four additional radial clutch locks which in turn are attached to four adjustable, telescoping arms. This is accomplished using a plurality of fasteners, including but not limited to bolts, rivets, compression fasteners or welds. One radial clutch is fastened to each of the four ends of the H-holder in a plane. These four radial clutch locks permit each of the four arms to be individually moved in a 200 degree radius within this plane. When the arms are moved using the radial clutch fasteners, these arms form a flat surface upon which the artwork can be held in place using J-shaped clamping members which can be selectively moved along the telescoping arms. In accordance with one aspect of this invention, the clutches enables the arms to swing out to hold nonrectangular paintings and to position rectangular paintings on the diagonal. In conjunction with the hinge function of the H-holder, the adjustable arms can be positioned to hold the artwork in an ergonomic position, so that fatigue, strain and injury from repetitive motion at an uncomfortable height or angle can be minimized. The adjustable arms provide an increased display surface where up to four artworks can be accessed with a variety of orientations in the X, Y and Z planes. In terms of three-dimensional motion, the artwork can be adjusted to have pitch or roll but not yaw.
The arms are telescoping outer and inner tubes which can be adjusted to extend the arms to a variety of lengths. These arms can be adjusted in convenient increments of 1-3 inches and are kept in position with by a variety of locking mechanisms, including but limited to split collar wing knob leg locks, locking spring button push pins, or adjustable annular clutch locks. It is understood that other arm designs that permit a stable, lightweight, strong, extendable configuration, such as folding shock cord arms, would also be suitable for use in this easel. A plurality of telescoping tubing shapes (circular, rectangular, hexagonal) can be used for these arms, provided the H-holder is modified to accommodate them. The smallest diameter of these telescoping tube arms is fastened to the radial clutch and the largest diameter extends outward. This is preferable, since this permits the use of a single diameter J-shaped clamping member to for both large and small artworks.
Holding Artworks
One J-shaped assembly 24, (one for each arm 22) serves as a secure attachment device for the artwork. This assembly is best illustrated in FIG. 8B. The J-shaped assembly 24 comprises three elements: a flat piece of material 40C (such as metal or composite) bent in the profile of the letter J; a flat, rectangular piece of material 34C to which the J-shaped element is fastened with a rivet or other fastener which permits rotational movement of the J-element 40C; and an adjustable fastener 36C attached to the flat, rectangular piece of material 34C, which can be positioned along the extendable arm to hold varying sizes and shapes of artwork.
The J-shaped assemblies 24 are designed to stably hold the artwork close to the supporting arms 22 of the easel 10 by directing the force of the artwork to press the J-shaped member 40C against the flat rectangular member. In this embodiment, the J-shaped member uses friction to stabilize the heavy artwork on the light weight easel. The J-holder can be covered by a plastic sleeve, which provides a flat, grooved surface to hold thinner boards such as Masonite boards. It is readily evident to one skilled in the art that other adjustable holder and clamp systems may also be used to affix artworks to the easel. The folded easel then fits within a storage bag. It is collapsible without disassembly of the arms, legs or painting supports from the base and arm holder.
Objects and Advantages
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the multiple configuration portable easel described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
This is an adjustable easel, which can provide full degree of freedom, stable and convenient operation of canvas position adjustment, compact size and portability, and versatile storage space. The easel assembly of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of prior portable easels. It is lightweight and compact for easy storage, yet can be easily unfolded for use in a variety of positions.
This portable easel can hold both rectangular and nonrectangular artworks using adjustable arms with gripping device(s) that adjust to hold the artworks securely. The arms can positioned using radial clutch fasteners, which permit each arm to move up to 200 degrees in a plane. This permits nonrectangular artworks to be held securely. It also permits positioning rectangular artworks on the diagonal for ease of painting.
The arms are attached to the base of the easel with a hinge mechanism, allowing the user to tilt the artwork to the desired position and secure that position rigidly in place. This arm and gripping device system permits the user to paint several paintings together using a single easel. This lightweight, portable, adjustable easel can be manipulated to position artwork from a flat, table top position to a vertical position to a tilted forward position for improved performance and versatility of painting and drawing with different media. This lightweight, portable, adjustable easel allows the user to position themselves close to the canvas on a chair without interference from the easel legs and/or braces. Use of a central base, with four legs held in position with an angled slot, is more stable than a tripod ease. The height can be adjusted by extending or retracting the adjustable legs.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.